There were a few surprises today at the Olympics.

Nigeria handled Belgium quite easily, advancing to the gold medal match in soccer with a 4-1 win. Brazil, primed to finally break their Olympic gold medal drought, once again ran into Argentina. The defending Olympic champs came out on top, sending Brazil home frustrated once again.

Shawn Johnson was finally able to overcome her Chinese competition and win gold on the balance beam. It was the first gold for the 16-year-old who was the most promising gymnast coming into the Games. Johnson also won silver three times, once in the team competition, once in the all-around, and once on the floor exercise.

The US’s best hope in the women’s 400-meters blamed her third place finish on a cramp that hit her leg in the final 100-meters of the race. Sanya Richards finished third, a disappointment since she was favored to win gold and was leading until the very end of the race.

Lolo Jones faltered in the women’s 100-meter hurdles. She tripped over the final hurdle and fell to seventh. Fellow US team member Dawn Harper took advantage of the trip and went on to win gold.

American David Zhuang, the only US player in the men’s table tennis draw, lost his opening round match in 7 sets to Nigeria’s Segun Toriola.

The US beach volleyball dream team of May-Treanor and Walsh is only one match away from defending their gold medal from 4 years ago. They cruised past Brazil and will play hometown favorites Tian Jia and Wang Jie in the final. The Americans will be huge favorites, but China will have the crowd on their side.

The heavyweights took to the weightlifting stage yesterday. Andrei Aramnau, a 20-year-old from Belarus broke the world record with a total sum of 423 kg (932.6 pounds) on his two lifts.